Original Short Stories — Volume 12

"Original Short Stories — Volume 12" by Guy de Maupassant, offers a glimpse into the human condition of 19th-century characters caught in webs of love, sorrow, and complicated relationships. Within these pages, readers are introduced to figures like M. Lemonnier, a bereaved widower whose journey of fatherhood begins with the heartbreaking loss of his wife, casting a shadow over his profound adoration for their newborn son. His story, "The Child," sets the stage for exploring intricate parent-child dynamics, the conflict between affection and duty, and the burden of societal expectations, culminating in an emotional crisis fueled by doubt and raw, human vulnerability as Lemonnier confronts unsettling potential truths about his son's origins and parentage.